Incredibly Seductive -- Ennis Willie

I'll bet Incredibly Seductive wasn't Ennis Willie's original title for this book. Not that it's entirely misleading. It's just not the kind of title you give to a tough-guy mystery. Or at least not the kind I'd give.

It's hard to find books about Ennis Willie's most famous creation, Sand, and this one's about an ex-cop named Gard Hogan who’s irresistible to women of a certain type (“She shrugged and her breasts played games beneath the negligee”). He’s out to solve a murder, and if you’ve ever read a Mickey Spillane novel, you’re not going to have a bit of trouble spotting the killer. Hogan left the force because of some problems of his own, and now he's back in town with a vengeance.

Just so you know what you're in for, here's the opening paragraph: "The big man swung his right fist hard and the grin that had been stretched across the face of Louigi the Lump suddenly crumbled into broken teeth and blood. The blow slammed him against the sweating wall of his buck-a-day room, and sound of surprise and pain was just finding its way out of his throat as he bounced off." There's lots of action and a lengthy torture sequence. Ennis Willie did this stuff very well, but obviously it's not for everyone. Don't say you weren't warned.